People Can Surprise You
by damnedflattery
Summary: Every one has a few problems... RenTawny. This was a oneshot but I decided that it sucked as one chapter. Don't read if you don't like. I can't tell if I like this story or not. Review if you'd like.
1. Chapter 1

Title: People Can Surprise You

Author: Scout Graham

Rating: PG (there's mention of a lesbian relationship, not really a big deal, but I'd rather not be crucified)

Pairing: Ren/Tawny

Summary: Read to see, it's a one shot, if I summarize it you won't have to read it.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue me.

Ren knew that Louis would hate it. She knew that he would absolutely flip out. If it had been Ren in his situation she would probably do the same, but she had to tell him. She had to tell him that she was dating his ex girlfriend. This was probably one of the hardest things she would ever have to do. Her, perfect Ren Stevens, not knowing what to do, what a laugh, if Larry Beale knew he'd be laughing the hardest. As far as anyone in her family knew she was straight, she had gone out with several guys, and she hadn't given them any reason to think she wasn't. By hiding it she made it ten times harder on herself and now she knew what she had to do. Louis would get over it, hopefully. Who was she kidding? Louis hated gay people. It was bad enough when he found out that Tawny was bisexual, but now, having a lesbian sister, not to mention the fact that said sister is dating Tawny the ex, she'd be lucky if he ever talked to her again. She couldn't tell him. She wouldn't tell him. She didn't notice Louis in the room with her until he interrupted her messy thought process.

"Hey Sis, I talked to Tawny today, she told me about you guys, I'm happy for you." He said nonchalantly, "I won't tell Mom and Dad until you're ready." And with that he walked out of the room, leaving Ren with her jaw on the floor. 'Wow' Ren mused as she picked her phone to call Tawny, 'it's hard to believe how off I was'.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: People Can Surprise You

Author: Scout Graham

Rating: PG, (there's questioning of sexuality, I don't think it's a problem, but better safe than sorry), rating may go up later

Pairing: Ren/Tawny

Summary: Tawny has a conflict.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue me.

A/N: Since my story was too incomplete as a one shot, and I among others, wanted more. I've decided to continue this story. The plot issues I was having before will resolve themselves in the next couple of chapters. Thank you to those who reviewed. Anyone else can feel free to review I like advice/ constructive criticism. 8D  
Thanks,  
Scout

It was time. Tawny couldn't wait any longer, it was like she was holding a part of her inside and would explode if she kept doing so. She could feel it with every breath she took, that heavy weight constricting her chest and lungs. Tawny knew what her parents would say, 'repressing your feelings is bad for you, we're going to analyze you like one of our patients, and so on'. She knew, well actually hoped that they wouldn't care about what she needed to tell them. They most likely wouldn't because they deal with it pretty often in their line of work, but still it was nerve-wracking for her. Her parents were only her first obstacle anyways. She had to tell her friends, Tom would definitely be cool about it, he had similar experiences and was good to talk to, he for the most part already knew. Twitty was kind of in uncharted territories. He never really expressed any views on the subject, except for the occasional passing comment about "hot lesbians making out". It was weird for Tawny to think about it like that. Even though she was bisexual, she would still feel strange and awkward if anyone was watching her like that. Twitty hopefully wouldn't make the "Can I watch" comment, he was a hormonal teenage boy but he knew some boundaries. Then there was Louis. He was her main problem. How was she supposed to tell the boy she had been dating on and off since 8th grade, that she was gay? She was hoping that he'd be able to see past his hurt feelings, and the whole homophobic thing. She could still remember what had happened in middle school. It was probably the main reason why she was hesitating so much. Maybe it would work out. She hoped that it would for her own well-being.


	3. Chapter 3

Logical thought was beyond Louis at the moment. The most disgusting thing ever had just happened to him and he still couldn't believe it.

He had been changing in the locker room, even though it freaked him out a little. He was only in 6th grade and it was pretty normal for him to be uncomfortable in a room full of other guys in various states of undress. On top of that Louis absolutely hated gym class because every single one of the coaches had this weird obsession with Donnie. So because of this weird fixation on the eldest Stevens sibling Louis had been kept late.

The locker room looked empty so Louis assumed that he was alone and went about changing and cleaning himself up. When he was almost done he nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed someone else inside the locker room.

"Oh hey Jamie, you scared me." He mumbled attempting not to let his surprise show through in his actions. This didn't work very well when he tried to pull on his shirt but only succeeded in getting his head stuck.

"You okay there Louis? Need any help?" asked the taller boy as he crossed the locker room to stand beside Louis' tangled form, which only served to make Louis more frantic and freaked out. Jamie smiled amusedly as he watched the younger boy twist and turn.

"No I'm good dude," said Louis uncomfortably as he struggled for a few more agonizing seconds.

"Just kidding anyways man, no worries," Jamie said lightly as he leaned on the locker next Louis. "What are you doing in here still anyways? Did it take you this long to figure out where your head went in the shirt?"

"No the Coaches wanted to talk to me because of my older brother," Jamie nodded he knew of Donnie's legacy as did many of the other students. "What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be at one of those arty poetry things?" Louis asked even though he didn't care, Jamie was one of Tawny's weird, art-fag friends.

"Forgot one of my books," Jamie said holding up the offending Thoreau novel. _Walden_, Louis had never heard of it.

"Oh that's cool, I think I've gotta go now." He wanted to get the hell out of there something was weird with this kid and on top of it, it was Friday.

"All right I'll see around then," said Jamie as he watched Louis scrambling to make an exit, which was extremely cute if you asked Jamie. "Wait Louis! You left your history book!"

Louis turned back and walked to where Jamie was standing looking around for a few seconds with confusion.

"No I didn't, it's right here," Louis said opening his bag to reveal a mess and a history book.

"I know, I just wanted to get your attention," said Jamie quickly moving toward the other boy. Before Louis could say anything there was another pair of very male lips on his own and his thought process completely unraveled. When his brain finally registered what was going on he pushed the older boy off and away from him, letting his anger propel him.

"What the fuck man?!?!" Louis shouted running out of the room.

"Oh shit." Jamie mumbled as he picked himself up off the floor. He was in way over his head on this one.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yeeeaahh sorry it took so long to update, life got in the way on that one. Our winter color guard won the state championships though!! Yay!! Also the story doesn't really go in chronological order. So we went backwards and now we're moving forward again kinda sorta. If you're confused just tell me, I can fix it or explain it somehow.

Jamie was crying. Tawny saw it. Louis saw it. The whole damned school saw it. They could also see why Jamie was crying. Someone had spray painted the word "faggot" across his locker, and if that wasn't enough the extremely thoughtful person had filled his locker with spaghetti sauce. Tawny knew that there was only one person juvenile enough to add that last touch. She saw him, standing in the crowd, and he was laughing the hardest and yelling the cruelest insults. She had no idea that he could be capable of something like this, he had always struck her as harmless, but now it was different. "This isn't right; this shouldn't be happening" kept playing in her mind; "someone should do something," it was like her mind was stuck on repeat.

Finally she felt herself moving through the gathering of middle schoolers that were taunting Jamie. Was this really happening? She took his hand completely ignoring everything around them. She led him through the little crowd and to the closest bathroom. She didn't care if anyone saw her go into the boys' bathroom so she pulled him in behind her. The bathroom was empty and she promptly locked it. Tawny made him sit on the sink as she went to work at cleaning spaghetti sauce out of his hair. The two of them regarded each other in a comfortable silence save for the occasional sob from Jamie, for a long time. Finally Tawny broke the silence.

"Your hair is all set," she smiled sympathetically "If you want you can borrow one of my friend Tom's shirts. He keeps extras for occasions like this; it's a hazard to be friends with Louis."

"It's even worse to be on his bad side; I think I'll take you up on the shirt offer." The small joke he had tried to make sounded harsher than he had meant it to. He was still struggling to regain some composure and to process everything that had just happened. Tawny watched his internal battle trying desperately to think of something to say.

"I never thought he'd do something like that, well not the sauce part he does that all the time, but what he wrote and what he was saying to you, that isn't the Louis I know. That shouldn't ever happen to anyone, but you'll be ok you're a tough guy. You can bounce back." Tawny fumbled for words, she had no idea what she was saying. She added learning about comforting people to her mental checklist.

"You're right, it'll all pass eventually. Thanks for helping me, you're an amazing person." Jamie smiled and stood up from the sink. "What time is it?" he asked suddenly remembering where they were. The bell had rang 15 minutes ago and they were missing class.

"Do you just want to skip the rest of the day? We could hide out in the auditorium or something." Tawny asked hopefully.

"Yeah that sounds like a plan; but let's find Tom's shirt first." Jamie said with a smile.

The pair walked out of the bathroom and to Tom's locker happily. Tawny successfully broke in and stole one of Tom's neatly folded shirts. They trekked back to the bathroom and this time Tawny waited outside for him to change. Finally they were on their way to the auditorium when they heard their names being called over the PA system. They exchanged worried looks and turned in the direction of the principal's office.

"Oh shit." Jamie mumbled when they got there. His parents were standing with the principal and no one looked very pleasant.

"Mr. Moore, Ms. Dean please step into my office." The principal said sternly. Not good, thought Tawny. The look on the faces of Jamie's parents' weren't very promising either.

"Do you two know why you're in here right now?" Jamie looked like he was going to cry again.

"Actually, no sir," said Tawny in her most polite, brave voice possible. One of them had to maintain a certain level of calmness or they'd be eaten alive.

"Well the two of you are here in regards to this morning's 'incident'. I'm told that both of you took a large part in this disruption and then proceeded to skip classes."

"Excuse me sir, but we weren't the ones who are responsible for the disruption, Jamie was a victim and I was only helping him." Tawny couldn't believe the way he had spun the story.

"Regardless someone must take the blame for this, and since your names were the only ones involved, I'm forced to suspend you. Your parents will be along shortly to gather you Ms. Dean, so you and Mr. Moore can say your little goodbyes and we'll see you back in school in about two weeks."

Tawny couldn't breathe, she was so angry, and Jamie was crying again. Jamie's parents started to rush him out of the door; she could hear them angrily whispering questions at him. Jamie had mentioned before that his parents were really religious and only now did she remember it. Louis had caused way more trouble than he had meant to this time. The principal escorted Tawny out into the hall to wait for her parents. She couldn't look at the asshole because she was sure that she'd kill him if she did. After a while he left her and went back to his office. She sat fuming for about a half hour before her parents showed up and when they finally did she burst into tears and was not capable of speech. They showed her to the car without one question, that would come later, and hopefully they'd believe her. No matter how bad she had it she knew that Jamie had it a thousand times worse.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yes I realize that my last update kind of went into crazy town but I shall redeem myself and make it better. This whole story is a little crazy. Maybe it's me. All feedback is appreciated. This chapter will be kind of rushed because I'm going to New York and I probably won't have any motivation afterwards. Also happy birthday to Billy Shakespeare!!

The media had been notified. Tawny knew she was doing the right thing; she, a mere sixth grader, knew that what the principal had done was wrong. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Her parents had been so surprised when she asked to do something about it. They shouldn't have been that surprised, she had always been very smart. So after her request, it was more of a plea because she was still extremely upset, her father called up one of his lawyer friends. Legal action was going to be taken. This was going to be big; never mind big this was going to monstrously huge. Jamie's parents had wanted nothing to do with the whole matter. In fact they had pulled Jamie out of school and begun home schooling him.

Tawny hadn't talked to Louis yet she didn't know if she would. She had no idea if he knew what he had done. She hoped to the god she didn't believe in that he hadn't intentionally thrown them to the mercy of the homophobic principal. Maybe he hadn't known that the principal had some personal bias in cases like this. This made the older man a really sucky principal in Tawny's opinion. As her father's lawyer friend kept telling her; her opinion was indeed correct. She had this feeling of foreboding. This sense that something big was about go down and she was to be right in the middle of it. She wasn't scared exactly, just a little unsure. She knew that change was coming and that people would look at her differently. This was the beginning of her thick skinned approach; the "I don't give a shit about what anyone thinks" method.

That was how it was when she went back to school. Everyone was talking about the weird Goth chick who was suing the school. There were the kids who would whisper and the ones who would taunt her; but there was one reaction which completely caught her off guard. It was her third day back from her suspension and she was on her way to lunch to sit with Tom. That is until she saw Louis Stevens waving like a madman trying to get her attention. Against her better judgment she made her way towards him.

"Tawny can we talk?" Louis asked almost nervously.

"We already are talking Louis." Tawny said flatly, her patience was wearing it had been a long morning and it looked to extend throughout her day.

"I meant in private." He muttered looking around nervously. She decided that she would follow him now that she was completely curious about what he had to say to her. They walked into an empty hallway and she leaned against a locker as Louis looked at her nervously.

"Tawny I just wanted to say that I didn't mean for everything to happen the way it did. It was only supposed to be a little prank to teach that queer a lesson. No one got hurt and it was no big deal. I didn't mean for it to go this far; and you were never supposed to get in trouble. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry." Tawny couldn't remember ever hearing Louis sound so sincere.

"Well I accept your apology but you should really apologize to 'that queer' Jamie, I mean look how much you disrupted his life. And what was it all for, just a dumb little kiss? You outed him to his parents and that sucks really bad for him. I mean look at how they pulled him out of school. Even if you don't agree with his lifestyle or however you want to put it no one deserves to be humiliated like that. If you want us to be good then go and talk to Jamie he deserves more of an apology than me. Besides it wasn't your fault that I stopped your little prank it was mine and it's the Principal's fault for being insensitive and politically incorrect." With that Tawny turned and went back to the cafeteria to eat her lunch with Tom leaving Louis in the dust still mulling over her words.


End file.
